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Tuesday, 28 April 2009

International compost awareness week next week

Next week (Sunday 3rd to Saturday 9th May) is International Compost Awareness Week. It is a week of activities, events and publicity to raise awareness about the importance of this valuable organic resource and to promote compost use, knowledge and products.

A whopping 60% of the rubbish Australians currently throw out could be composted. This organic material – when buried ‘anaerobically’ (without air) in landfill causes over 3% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions annually by producing methane: a gas with 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide! If properly composted instead, this same organic waste could help to abate climate change by sinking or ‘sequestering’ carbon back into the soil.

The Australian International Compost Week website provides some great information on composting, including a list of workshops on composting, worm farming, and sustainable gardening across Australia. If it wasn’t a work day for me I would love to go along to this local Newcastle workshop on composting and worm farming.

In honour of compost awareness week I’ll give my neglected compost bins some much needed love. Given the small size of my garden, I have three plastic compost bins which I move around the garden depending upon where I have space available. They currently sit next to my new straw bale garden. I’m not overly happy with this compost bin system. I find the compost difficult to turn, so only turn every few weeks months. I tip out the contents of each bin, then shovel back into the bins layering with hay or similar when needed. We also have problems with mice – so one day I would love a Tumbleweed compost bin.

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International compost awareness week next week

Next week (Sunday 3rd to Saturday 9th May) is International Compost Awareness Week. It is a week of activities, events and publicity to raise awareness about the importance of this valuable organic resource and to promote compost use, knowledge and products.

A whopping 60% of the rubbish Australians currently throw out could be composted. This organic material – when buried ‘anaerobically’ (without air) in landfill causes over 3% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions annually by producing methane: a gas with 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide! If properly composted instead, this same organic waste could help to abate climate change by sinking or ‘sequestering’ carbon back into the soil.

The Australian International Compost Week website provides some great information on composting, including a list of workshops on composting, worm farming, and sustainable gardening across Australia. If it wasn’t a work day for me I would love to go along to this local Newcastle workshop on composting and worm farming.

In honour of compost awareness week I’ll give my neglected compost bins some much needed love. Given the small size of my garden, I have three plastic compost bins which I move around the garden depending upon where I have space available. They currently sit next to my new straw bale garden. I’m not overly happy with this compost bin system. I find the compost difficult to turn, so only turn every few weeks months. I tip out the contents of each bin, then shovel back into the bins layering with hay or similar when needed. We also have problems with mice – so one day I would love a Tumbleweed compost bin.